24. Erin
Chapter twenty-four
Erin
There was a Demon. A fucking Demon in the hollowed out room—if I could even call it that—of the office Josh had brought me to. The entire space was shrouded in darkness aside from a single special-agent-interrogation-room-spotlight that illuminated the hellish creature in the center of the claustrophobic quarters. I whirled on Josh.
“What the actual fuck is going on?”
“Right in this moment, you have your back to a Demon, albeit it is unconscious and chained to an obsidian and salt coated iron chair,in addition to wards and being under my illusion.However, that does not excuse the fact that you have yourself exposed to an enemy. I would suggest refraining from doing so in the future.”
You son of a bitch.
I threw my hands on my hips and dished out a flat glare in Josh’s direction before I faced the Demon, begrudgingly.
“You’re still not answering my question. What is going on and why the hell do you have a Demon in here? And the fuck does obsidian and salt have to do with anything?”
Josh stepped further into the room, shutting and latching the door behind us. His body pressed to mine. The hair on my neck stood at attention. I adjusted my stance and leaped to the side, giving myself a better defensive position. Josh and the Demon in my line of sight.
“Miss Snow, I can assure you, I did not bring you here to harm you. Simply to request your assistance,” I narrowed my eyes. “He is here for questioning. You wish to find those humans, yes?”
This reeks of bullshit.
“What assistance am I to you?” I kept my stance and bared my teeth.
He glanced at my hands then flicked his eyes to meet mine.
“Oh.”
So, I’m a scare tactic.
Great. I don’t even know what I’m doing.
Nice planning, Josh. Not.
He moved to the shadows, rummaging through what sounded like metal cabinets and drawers, then emerged with a forearm length dagger, thick at the base, thinning to a sharp point at the tip. In the low light of the office-turned-interrogation room, the blade glinted a green hue, almost that of jade.
Josh’s Oxfords barely sounded on the marbled floor as he strode towards the Demon. He snapped his fingers and the creature awoke, head whipping left and right, snarling.
“Release me! I cannot be contained, I am Artremias,” he foamed at the mouth, a crazed look within its unseeing eyes. “I will devour you. Your soul. Release me, you scum. Or face my wrath.” The Demon howled.
Josh squatted in front of Artremias, twirling the dagger in his hands. “Now, you know I can’t do that, Artremias. You’re far too valuable,” Josh’s voice dropped, power emanating from him, pure threat lined each word. “I do have a proposition for you, however.” Josh leaned forward on his knees, skating his dagger along the Demon’s thighs. “My acquaintance”—he pointed his dagger in my direction—“has quite an array of talents. Talents which can make you pray for death.” The Demon’s milky eyes widened in fear and flicked in my direction. He trembled. “Now, now, Artremias, no need to fret. Cooperate and I’ll have my acquaintance here rein in her skills and leave you in one piece. Understood?” The corners of Josh’s mouth tilted upward and spread the width of his face. He stood, turned on his heel, and backed towards the shadows.
The Demon spat on Josh as he stepped away.
Josh whirled around, dagger in hand, and slit the Demon’s throat. It gushed black ink, soaking its front in the dark sludge. A stench of dead fish filled the room and sent me silently gagging. I covered my nose and mouth with my hands and caught a glimpse of Josh. He slid the blade across his tongue, licking it clean of the black blood. My stomach turned.
Oh my god. What is wrong with him?
He moved in, nearly nose to nose with the Demon. “Did you forget what happens when you choose to play with fire, Artremias?” He then snapped his fingers and the Demon screamed. My blood curdled in my veins. The dim room began to spin. I felt the floor rush towards me. An arm slid underneath me, catching me before I crashed to the ground. My vision blurred, black spots flitted in and out of my peripheral vision. My mouth watered and I heaved. A hand stroked my back.
I blinked back the spots and blurriness, taking in several panting breaths before looking up to find Josh was holding me, being the one to have caught me.
No shit Snooty Pants caught you. There’s only three of you in this psycho’s office of torture and one is almost completely incapacitated.
I pushed out of his embrace. “What the actual fuck , Josh?” I hissed. “Was knifing the guy necessary? Licking his blood? What kind of psycho are you?” I panted, my body convulsing.
“I needn’t scare you, Miss Snow. But this is how I attain the information that is needed in vital situations, such as the one we’ve stumbled upon.” The gold flecks nestled within the blue hues of his eyes reflected in the low light, the shadows danced in the edges of his pupils, as if in invitation. The rasp that fell from his lips caught me off guard. “As your safety is of the utmost importance.”
Hot.
He’s a hot psychopath.
Fucking hell.
My mouth hung open. I clamped it shut. Anger rose within me, suffocating my shock. “Does Seth know about this? Does he actually condone what you’re doing?” They were Demons and absolutely terrifying but…they were still living creatures.
There has to be a less murdery way of getting the truth from them.
“No, I keep my…tactics to myself. It’s simpler that way. And we’re going to keep it that way, Miss Snow.” He stared me down, the threat weighing.
Oh gee wiz. I feel so much better.
No one knows how bat-shit crazy this guy is.
Great.
Just great.
The Demon screamed louder, my head began pounding from the sound. I pressed my hands over my ears to keep them from bleeding and shouted, “What does this have to do with my safety? I get the humans. We need to find them quickly—yesterday, actually—but why factor my safety into it?”
Why do I matter in any of this?
Josh looked at me as if I was an idiot. “Do you not remember yesterday? The potential of you being ‘The Key’? If what the Demons suspect is true, then you are in grave danger. And whatever you experienced in your time with the Demon Erebus, is nothing compared to what they will put you through.”
My vision unfocused, as the images threatened to play and drag me down into the murky blood-soaked depths of the memory.
He flicked my nose and it vanished. “Out of it, girl. You continue to zone out like that, it will be the end of you. Your enemies will notice and take advantage.”
My voice shook, “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
He flicked my nose. Snooty Pants actually flicked my nose.
His eyes flicked between mine, searching. “Good. Now, Miss Snow, I need you to work with me on this. You do not need to conjure your powers unless I specifically request you to. I’ll illusion what is needed to keep the Demon in line as I did before. I need you to cooperate if this is to work. Do you understand?”
He’s right. The asshole is right.
I need to keep it together.
Or it won’t just be my ass on the line.
I nodded in agreement, irritating curiosity nagged at me. “What did you show him earlier?”
Josh smirked. “I had him seeing you as you were during our escape, but more. Covered in flame and lightning. Truly a Goddess of the flame and skies; the two elements bending at your will.”
I scoffed at him. “Exaggerate a bit much?”
He shrugged. “The dramatic tends to benefit more often than not in interrogations.”
“Whatever, just give me some type of heads up if you’re going to go all slasher on me, please. I don’t feel like puking, again.”
I really have no choice in any of this anymore.
He gave me his hand and pulled me to my feet. “I’ll do my best, Miss Snow.”
He sauntered towards the Demon, the dagger once again moving between his fingers as if it were a snake, caressing each finger as it flitted across. He ran the blade along the shoulders of the Demon and Artremias halted his screaming. His mouth clamped shut and milky eyes darted around the room as if he faced countless terrors before him. With nowhere to run and without a means of protecting himself.
“Now, let's try this once more, Artremias,” Josh paused, his dagger caressing the Demon’s neck as if it were a lover. “Where are the humans?”
The Demon’s voice trembled. “I…I don’t know.” He shook.
Josh removed the blade and stuck it into the Demon’s side, down to the hilt. The Demon yelped in pain as its black blood seeped from around the blade. I went to turn away but Josh caught my eyes and held me in place; urging me to continue watching. I gulped down the bile building in the pit of my stomach and refocused my attention on the Demon in front of me.
Josh pulled the dagger from the Demon’s side, painstakingly slow. He reinserted it into the Demon’s thigh, driving it through to the metal seat, a slight clang vibrated in the thick air. The Demon screamed.
“Okay! Goddammit. Okay!” He panted. “The others. They took the humans. They’re being held in the mountains. I wasn’t present for the exact drop off location,” the Demon snarled as Josh wriggled the blade in its thigh, causing blood to further pool. “That’s all I know! I was with the others as we burned down that building. I was not a part of the extraction itself.” His face scrunched in pain, sweat slicked his forehead, tears trailed down his face. “Please. That’s all I know. Please, let me go.” A whimper escaped its thin lips.
Josh twisted the blade once again then slowly pulled it out, scraping against bone. The Demon panted in relief. “Who led your operation?”
The Demon shook his head, unsure. Repeating that was all he knew; he wasn’t told who was leading the whole thing.
Josh turned his back to the Demon. “Very well.” He whipped around, driving the dagger straight through the Demon’s neck. Its head bounced on the floor, inked blood spraying from its headless body. The fleshy cranium landed, rolling to a stop at my feet. The milky eyes cleared and a bright, white, borderline-iridescent shine took their place before fading to onyx pits. Black blood seeped from the corners of its eyes, coating them. The dead fish stench hit my nose, and I fought the urge to double over.
“What the hell, Josh?!”
He pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and began wiping down his blade.
At least he didn’t lick the thing clean this time.
“If I allowed him freedom, he would have ran back to his pack of Demons and dispelled everything. My building, location, whereabouts, and the intel that’s been gathered. Which would have enlarged the target on your back, as well as mine, Miss Snow. They would’ve come for us before we were ready. The only feasible option was to dismember the Demon and be done with it.”
I pinched my nose between my fingers, attempting to keep the stench from gagging me. “You could’ve warned me at least, asshole.”
“Very true, my apologies, Miss Snow.”
I looked down. My sneakers and bottom of my joggers, as well as my sweatshirt, were now covered in Demon blood. I shivered. No amount of showering was going to wipe this little experience from my skin. I fought the nausea as it threatened to make another appearance. “I’m going to need thirty showers, at least, to get this gunk off of me.”
“You may use the shower I have here, if you wish. There are spare clothes as well, although they may be a bit large on your frame, Miss Snow.”
I went to open my mouth when our phones dinged. Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket before I could get to mine.
He scanned his screen, his expression shut down. “We must go. It seems Mr. Draven has discovered something that could be of use to the situation.”
He sheathed his cell phone into his pocket and the dagger into the waistband of his belt. Then hastily made his way to the door; he had the bolt unlocked within seconds.
I looked back as I followed Josh out of the office, the Demon’s empty eyes sent chills down my spine. As if it were alive…and watching me.